Ok, so the almost year of silence here is pretty inexcusable - but I just wanted to drop in for a quick update.

Yes, the Historic Timbers Project is still in action! No, we haven't been blogging like we should. We are currently in the (long) process of moving to a new website. There will be less blog posts at the new site, but more information on past, current, and future log structure projects. If you have Facebook, we update there regularly @HistoricTimbers, and recommend you comment or follow us there! We hope to see some new faces :)

What a crazy summer! Shawn and I spent over four weeks touring the hills and hollers of southern WV to find more amazing log structures in need of tree-ring dating. We also collected samples from over 20 structures. No big deal...

We started our first week of field work in May with a presentation of our results on the Barracks. If you came to the presentation or saw Barnwood Builders, you know how old the Barracks is now. If you missed it, I'll be updating the Barracks page with results soon.

After a fun night in Lewisburg, where we got to dress up and act civilized, it was time to put the (saw) dusty clothes back on. We decided to rip the band-aid off, so to speak, by starting field work at the largest, most complicated structure we've worked on yet. The Mill Point Barn.

Mill Point Barn

It's an unassuming structure from the outside. But what a view from the inside. It's a two-story double crib barn with a very high ceiling. I tried to take a picture that would capture the structure in its entirety, but it just wasn't happening. Here's a picture of Shawn on a ladder. Notice the number of logs above his head.

If you heard the WVPB story on the project back in November, you might remember me talking about imagining a barn as a forest. This is the barn we were in. Because it is so large, and so many logs had to be used to build it, it really is no stretch to imagine this as a large stand of trees, which it once was.

It took two and one half days to collect cores from the Mill Point Barn. Based on inspection, we saw no signs to indicate that this barn was hiding an old fort. If we see different felling dates in the two cribs, we can reconsider the idea.

The next structure we sampled was the Herold Barn in Minnehaha Springs.

Herold Barn

We found a lot of graffiti in here while we were coring.

What's really cool about Herold Barn is that many of the pine trees used to build this structure were quite old when they were harvested.

Up next was Kee Cabin at the Pocahontas Historical Museum in Marlinton.

We found an old bullet in one of the logs while we were coring!

Old bullet lodged in log.

Next we headed to Sydenstricker House at the Pearl Buck Museum.

These oak logs might have been the toughest we've cored yet! They were solid!

Our last stop for the week was the Wooddell Smokehouse.

These logs weren't in the best shape. Time had taken a toll on them. We will have to spend a lot of time working on this little beauty.

Besides the exhaustion we felt after working on Mill Point Barn, our first field week was pretty easy. Nothing crazy happened, everything was on schedule. It was great! Maybe too great???

Field week 1 was a breeze!

Shawn and I both know we attract crazy. Stay tuned for more on that...

I know I promised some posts about the structures we worked on this summer, but you'll have to be patient just a bit longer. I've been sanding all of those cores we collected (like 400 of them!), and just as soon as I'm done I'll tell you all about our adventures in Greenbrier, Pocahontas, and Pendleton Counties. I also have some dating results from the Barracks, Old Kile Home Place, and McCoy Fort to share.

Until then, I'd like to share a presentation I did for Old Hemlock Foundation. I dated the Old Hemlock House last year and presented dating results in March 2016. LeJay Graffious, director of OH, asked me to return so we could record my presentation and share it with everyone who couldn't attend the event. If you've got 45 mins to spare, this is a great example of the final product from the Historic Timbers Project.

Shawn and I are about to depart for our final field week of the season. It's been a busy summer full of awesome log structures that we can't wait to share with you here. I'll be updating in the next few weeks with some of our adventures, so stay tuned for that.

We were also invited to join Mark Bowe on Barnwood Builders to talk about our work on the Barracks in Lewisburg. If you missed the episode it's Season 3 Episode 11. It was really cool meeting Mark - what a fun job he and his crew have!

On May 20th, Shawn and I presented the tree-ring dating results of the Barracks in Lewisburg, WV. Thank you to everyone who came to our presentation! We saw some familiar faces and a few new ones as well.

Now that the cat is out of the bag, we'd like to share the dating results with everyone who couldn't be there...

The Barracks, Lewisburg, WV

We collected 51 samples from the Barracks, representing all walls and the floor joists in the basement. From our analysis, the main two-story portion of the Barracks dated to 1799, meaning the logs were felled for construction during the year of 1799! This places William Morrow who owned the Barracks from 1787-1807 as the person responsible for constructing this iconic Lewisburg log house.

​Surprisingly we also found that there was a second phase of construction on the Barracks in 1877, which was limited to the east wall and the easternmost floor joists in the basement.

East wall of the Barracks, dated to 1877.

Why this portion of the Barracks dates to 1877 is a bit of a mystery, as the Greenbrier Historical Society has no records to support addition or replacement to the structure. Following our announcement of the dates, the GHS has plans to investigate why the eastern portion of the Barracks dates to a different period.

Perhaps the eastern wall was damaged during the Battle of Lewisburg in 1862 and the logs had to be replaced? Or perhaps the eastern wall was not a part of the 1799 blueprint (making an open porch) and was later added to enclose the one-story room? Either way, we look forward to hearing what the GHS digs up in the written records!

What a great project this was. We are so pleased to have helped determine the age of the Barracks. And a date of 1799 makes it one of the oldest surviving (and absolutely dated) structures of the county and the area!

Helloooo West Virginia - raise you hand if you have a log structure that you'd like to have tree-ring dated.​We are taking a tentative step forward in expanding our project area, but we need to know if you want us in your area. We have heard of some great structures all over the state (thanks to everyone who contacted us before; we have your info!), but we'd like to get a show of hands to see who else is interested! Do you have a log barn, cabin, house, smokehouse, corn crib, castle (what?!), or any other log structure on your property (or on your neighbors property) with an unknown history? Do you want to know how old it really is? Then tell us about it!

We want to keep our doors open to you and your log structures, but we need to know who you are! Please tell us about your log structure via our contact form. Thanks WV!

Day 2 of our trip to Pocahontas County was a flurry of activity, much like the day before. We drove all over the northern and central part of Pocahontas County, and it was gorgeous!

Herold Barn

​We started our tour in Minnehaha Springs to see the Herold Barn. The barn is all that remains of the original homestead, but the owners told us that the old cabin used to sit nearby and that a slave graveyard was located in the forest across the road. The barn had steeple notching and decently large logs that were in excellent condition. All signs point to the barn being rather old indeed.

Herold Barn in Minnehaha Springs, WV.

While the logs appear to be pine, rumor has it they may be hemlock! That would be pretty neat, as we have yet to see a structure built of hemlock in this region. To be determined...

Steeple notching on Herold Barn.

Look at those beautiful logs! They're in great shape thanks to the protective structure around the barn.

From the oral and written history, it is believed that the barn was part of the original Herold property purchased by the White family after the Civil War, so it's likely older than the 1860s. Of course the steeple notching suggests it may be much older than that, but only tree-ring dating will tell! We really liked this barn and have added it to our project. Can't wait to find out the date!

Our next stop was about an hour away in Green Bank. Neither Shawn nor I have seen the satellite at Green Bank so we stopped by real quick for a tour of the Green Bank Science Center and National Radio Astronomy Observatory. We got to see the satellite (from a distance), but we mostly played in the tour hall and gift shop. We like science!

Shawn eagerly awaiting our tour of the Green Bank Science Center

View of Green Bank satellite from the cafe.

Shawn (left) and Kristen (right) showing off our thermal skills.

Maybe a little too much....

Shawn makes a pretty convincing alien.

I just look like I have a long beard!

Shawn ran into an old friend while we were there too!

Shawn and Bert.

Ok, so all of this happened in like 10 minutes. We had work to do, so we got in, had fun, and got out.

Wooddell Smokehouse

Our next stop was the Wooddell Smokehouse just outside of Green Bank proper. The only original structures to the Wooddell property that still stand are the smokehouse and the cellar (no logs, sorry). It is believed that the smokehouse was built in 1802, which agrees with the steeple notching style. The structure was built of pine and all logs are original except the sill logs.

Shawn checking logs for bark, weathering, and cracks.

Steeple notching except top logs which are square notched.

Though the Wooddell smokehouse doesn't have many logs, it has just enough to be dated using tree-rings. This will be the HTP's first smokehouse! We have added it to the project and look forward to seeing if the historical records are correct!

Fish Cabin

Just to be clear, the real name of this cabin is not "fish cabin", but because it is the centerpiece of Pocahontas Fish and Game Adventures, a fishing retreat, we started calling it fish cabin and the name stuck. This cabin is the quintessential log cabin nestled in the forest. The written history places this cabin in the 1840s, which sounds about right because of the half-dovetail notching.

"Fish Cabin"

Half dovetail notching, and very nicely done!

The logs are pretty massive. And in great condition. There was plenty of bark exposed on both floors of the cabin. Rumor has it these logs are American black cherry, which has a pretty telltale ring structure.

Look at all that bark!

We have added this cabin to our project and look forward to seeing what species these monstrous logs are and what the date of construction is!

Our last visit of the day was not to see a cabin. Or a barn. Or a smokehouse. We headed up the mountain to visit someone with trees. Yes, trees. Old trees. The property we visited was once an old homestead, but none of the original structures still stand. But - the old sheep grazing pasture, now a forest, still has some of the original oak trees that once stood in the fields. Shawn calls them "cow trees", because the cows liked to lay under them. So the owner took us all over his property to see these old trees, now hiding in the forest. "Why?" you ask. Because old trees like these help us figure out how old log structures are! We always like to hear about old trees in the areas we work in. Thanks for the tip John!

In front and left of Shawn (ole blue), is an old pasture tree aka "Cow Tree", now a part of the forest. We had the cutest little helper, and she got to ride her "horse" the whole time!

That concluded our tour of structures in Pocahontas County. The next time we return we'll have the drills with us! Thank you to everyone who contacted us about their structures. We are so excited to work in this area with you all. And keep sending us emails if you know of a log structure. Who knows, we might be in your county next!